Jordan Times
Tuesday, June 9, 1998
Prince Hassan arrives in Vienna for talks with Austrian, U.N. officials
From Francesca Ciriaci in Vienna
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan arrived here last night for talks with
Austrian leaders and discussions with representatives from world and European
organisations based in Vienna on global and regional issues, including the stalled Middle
East peace process.
Prince Hassan's three-day visit to Vienna has many dimensions, officials said. Austria,
one of the youngest members in the European Union (EU), will assume the 6-month rotational
presidency of the EU as of July 1.
Vienna is considered after New York and Geneva to be the third headquarter of the U.N. and
is home to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which Jordan joined late last month, the United
Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the U.N. Drug Combatting Agency.
In what officials described as “an intense and significant programme,” the Crown
Prince is scheduled to visit the headquarters of the OSCE today, and later hold talks with
Austrian President Thomas Klestil, Speaker of Parliament Heinz Fischer, and Federal
Chancellor Victor Klima, who visited Jordan earlier this year.
The Crown Prince is very keen on maintaining and further strengthening Jordan's friendly
ties with Austria, officials said. Vienna's upcoming presidency of the EU amid
consultations and preparatory work for the second phase of the Barcelona process is an
asset, one official noted.
The 1996 Europe-Mediterranean Barcelona conference allocated ECU 4.7 billion in aid and
ECU 2.6 billion in soft loans to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.
Jordan is looking for new funds to finance much-needed infrastructure projects, said
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Jawad Anani. The second phase of the Barcelona
process is scheduled to be launched in Stuttgart in April 1999. The Barcelona process
involves all peace parties in the Middle East, including Syria and Lebanon.
The recent Euro-Mediterranean conference, held last week in Palermo, Italy proved that,
“though the (1991) Madrid (peace) process is frozen, the Barcelona process is still
working and is the only forum in which all peace parties still meet,” Dr. Anani told
Jordanian journalists in Vienna.
“The importance of both the place and circumstances makes His Royal Highness' visit
particularly significant,” said Jordan's Ambassador to Austria Mazen Armouti.
“While New York is U.N.'s political base, Geneva its human rights headquarters,
Vienna is the seat of the enforcement agencies, the role of which has recently been
increased by the developments in the (Indian) sub-continent,'' said Dr. Armouti, who is
also Jordan's permanent representative to the U.N. and international organisations in
Vienna that also include the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Officials accompanying the Crown Prince said the issue of recent nuclear tests by India
and Pakistan will likely to be discussed during Prince Hassan's scheduled meetings with
officials from the IAEA and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO),
established last year.
Rejecting the notion suggested by international media that Pakistan's nuclear test
introduced an “Islamic bomb,'' Jordan is worried that Israel might use the pretext to
build-up further its nuclear capability.
“The (1994) peace treaty (between Jordan and Israel) stipulates that both parties
will work to make the Middle East a nuclear-free region,'' said Dr. Anani.
“We want to reiterate that we are against nuclear proliferation and make sure that
Israel does not use (Pakistan's nuclear tests) as an excuse to build up its nuclear
capability,'' he said.
Jordan will also use its recent admission to the OSCE, as one of six “Mediterranean
partners,'' to enhance its role both regionally and internationally, Dr. Armouti pointed
out.
The Kingdom's membership in the 55-member organisation is also “the sign of Europe's
appreciation of His Majesty King Hussein's energising role in peace building in the
region,'' he added.
On the bilateral level, Jordan intends to promote trade ties, currently very limited, and
enhance cooperation in the fields of investment and tourism, said Dr. Armouti.